Module 21 focused on different ways of grouping students in
a school setting. The main types of
groups used are heterogeneous groups and homogeneous groups. Heterogeneous
groups are groups in which students show variation in ability levels, while homogeneous
groups are comprised of students with little variation in ability levels.
Homogeneity can be used in ability grouping, where students who are at the same
level in ability are put together. Heterogeneity can be used in cooperative
learning, in which students of differing levels are grouped together and work
collaboratively. Regrouping is another option, in which students are placed in
homogeneous groups in certain subjects, such as math or reading, but are placed
in heterogeneous groups for the other subjects. There are many other specific
types of grouping and methods of having students work together. All of these
methods aim to help students succeed in school and work well with each other.
Many times when teachers group students based on ability, they give the groups names such as “red” “blue” and “yellow”, so students will not be aware of what ability they are at. But it seems that students eventually figure out if they are in the low ability, average ability, or high ability group. Will this kind of homogeneous grouping, regardless of what the groups are named, affect students’ self-esteem and performance?
Many times when teachers group students based on ability, they give the groups names such as “red” “blue” and “yellow”, so students will not be aware of what ability they are at. But it seems that students eventually figure out if they are in the low ability, average ability, or high ability group. Will this kind of homogeneous grouping, regardless of what the groups are named, affect students’ self-esteem and performance?
According to Vygotsky, no learning is individual. He believed
social interaction was crucial to learning. Because of this, Vygotsky would
definitely be in favor of grouping in the classroom. Vygotsky would recommend heterogeneous
grouping, because it would allow for scaffolding. Students who are at a higher
ability could work with students at a lower ability. This would allow the
higher ability students to become better at explaining and understanding the
work, because they would have to explain it to the other students. Also, the
lower-ability students would benefit because they are being taught by someone
of their own age, thus making it easier for them to ask for help and get clarity.
Vygotsky claimed that learning drives development, while
Piaget stated that development precedes learning, because an individual must be
developmentally ready to learn. Also, Piaget believed that learning can happen
in both individual and social settings, while Vygotsky believed that no
learning was individual.
My thoughts and actions are being influenced by a number of
things at this very moment. My roommate Megan is in the room with me and we are
talking, which is causing a distraction and making it somewhat hard to complete
this blog post. My textbook and notebook are also influencing me, because I am
reading the words in them to help me finish this post. I am typing this on my
laptop, so that is also influencing me. I am influenced by Jackie, who makes up
the blog posts, as well as other students’ posts that have posted before me,
because I can look to their posts for help or new ideas.
Katie, I know what you mean by students can figure out what group they are in. I have done this and seen it happen in the class. I think this will affect the students in the higher group by giving them confidence and motivation, but it will have an opposite affect on those in lower groups.
ReplyDeleteI agree, I think that students can figure out which group they are put in or know otherwise in some way and knowing will affect their self-esteem. If it affects the students' self-esteem it is also bound to affect the way they learn in the classroom and how motivated they are to learn. If students know they are put in the lower achieving group, then they may think that they cannot do well in school and teachers may not believe that they can do well. It could also go the opposite way and they might feel more motivated to learn to get into the higher achieving groups. It completely depends on the student. If students are in higher achieving groups and they are aware of this, then they might be more motivated to learn or even less motivated to learn because they already know that they are higher achieving than other students. I think it depends on the individual student, but knowing what group a student is in can greatly affect their self-esteem and motivation to learn.
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